The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act [5] is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act consists of a Preamble and 9 clauses; the 9th clause contains The Constitution of The Commonwealth[6]. The Constitution is that part of the Imperial Act comprehended in Clause 9 and divided into chapters, parts and sections being numbered from 1 to 128 inclusive. The Schedule is also part of the Constitution.[7]

The Australia Act 1986 offers the following definitions:

"the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" means the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, and

"the Constitution of the Commonwealth" means the Constitution of the Commonwealth set forth in section 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, being that Constitution as altered and in force from time to time.G J Craven in The Kirmani Case [8]states 'In the context of the present discussion, it should therefore be noted at this stage that the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (including the Constitution proper) is apparently 'part of the law of the Commonwealth' for the purposes of sub-s. 2(2)[9]'. Additionally, P H Lane[10] probably offers the best and most apt description viz. 'Since the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act includes 'the Constitution of the Commonwealth', a reference to the former includes the latter.[11] However, at times a law may refer to both phrases, presumably for greater caution. For that matter, cl V (of the Constitution Act) refers to 'This Act' and 'the Constitution'.'

Finally, and as recent as July 2000, Cheryl Saunders indicates 'the Constitution still is encased in the original British act of parliament and is preceded by a preamble and eight introductory sections to that act.' [12]

In other words, the Constitution is part of the Constitution Act but the Constitution Act is not part of the Constitution. An analogy could be 'all sultanas are raisins but not all raisins are sultanas'. Therefore, there is clear and reasonable support for the view that The Constitution is an integral and, for the moment, an inseparable part of the Constitution Act. Accordingly, if the Constitution Act in toto were to be repealed then The Constitution itself would also be automatically repealed.